The Business of Dying by
Simon Kernick
pbk out June 03
(Corgi)
at £6.99
Detective Sergeant Dennis Milne, disillusioned by the frustration of life in a police
force where the law rarely wins and the rewards are pathetic, develops a job on the
side - as a gun for hire. Despatching the bad guys gives him the satisfaction he
craves, he's delivering his own brand of summary justice and earning a fair whack for
his troubles. But his latest assassinations turn out to be two custom officials and an
accountant and not the drug dealers he was expecting. The man who hired Milne
won't tell him what's going on and worst of all there's a witness to the killings. It can
only be a matter of time before the police will be on his heels.
This is London hard-boiled. A depressing world riddled with corruption, awash with
drugs and littered with firearms where (according to Milne) the police can't possibly
compete with the savagery and ruthlessness of the villains unless they too break the
law. Milne argues that he is not amoral and in the midst of the mayhem he is set on
solving the mystery behind the death of a young prostitute believing this will help him
atone for his own sins. With moments of ghastly farce and bloody gun fights The
Business of Dying is a strong debut from Kernick particularly in the knuckle biting
tension he creates as Milne the hunter becomes the hunted.
Manchester Evening News 31.5.03
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
The Business of Dying by
Simon Kernick
